For many gardeners, it starts with tomatoes. I think we're all complicit in the banishment of the dead to the peripheries. And there's somebody else doing this, that. He first started doing various stunts in 1932, a time when people were trying to make crazy money with dancing marathons, flagpole sitting, and other endurance feats. What does your funeral home represent for this town? There must be some reason for it! Burial was the norm in the Western world probably until the mid-60s. So what you've seen is what I've seen: that people who deal with their dead deal with death better. Director Irving Brecher Writers Irving Brecher Groucho Marx (story) Stars William Bendix Rosemary DeCamp James Gleason See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 10 User reviews Photos 10 Top cast Edit I'd have to say yeah, they do. He had a new book out about God not being great. Some do. But we are much more willing to go stand next to the hole in the ground than we are willing to stand next to the fire. For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. Gillis: I tried to help you, Riley, but I'm through. I mean, there are good funerals. The question is not meant to mock; the question is to say: "What is it you don't want to see? Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. It seems Digger ODell was a friendly undertaker character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesnt explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. Web. Today he is just living the life of RileyIn 1908, a starving Indian named Gray Horse drove a tent stake into the ground and struck oil. Lewis, and I think, how would you get by without it? I figure once a year, every married man should get away from his wife for a few days. After the boorish Monahan orders the most expensive items on the fancy French menu, however, Riley barely has enough to cover the check. I'll treat her just like she wasn't my wife. Irving Brecher's onscreen credit reads: "Written and directed by Irving Brecher." I'll be the dead guy, and the dead say nothing. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on . FRONTLINE series home|wgbh|pbs, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation. But I find that if you just show up, if you just walk in the door, people think you're a hero. In addition to Bendix' Riley, the show featured immensely popular supporting characters, including Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the ghoulish "friendly undertaker" voiced by John Brown (who also played Thorny on Ozzie and Harriet, Al on My Friend Irma, and Broadway on The Damon Runyan Theatre). Peg Riley: No. [citation needed], Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised the roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the feature film that was presented on Lux Radio Theater on May 8, 1950. And is that the purposefulness in the ebb and flow of a wake and a funeral? And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. On the day of Babs's wedding, which is to take place at the Stevenson mansion, Riley becomes annoyed and hurt when Gillis, his best friend and co-worker, snubs him because he is sure that Riley "sold" his daughter to get the promotion. But it's not just my job. And something is. This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. That's not what you don't want to see, because we can fix that all." In many ways we represent the place where whatever conversation people want to have about death and dying and grief and bereavement. Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. But maybe with the fact that 75 million baby boomers are working their way up to the bar of mortality now, it's dawning on them that this could happen to them. home|introduction|watch online|stories & special video|to be an undertaker|join the discussion Al was the boyfriend of Irma. Searching for Herbert ODell Smith took me nowhere, and youd be surprised how many people in America are named Digger ODell. Why, theres Edwin Digger Odell of Abilene, Texas; Allen Digger ODell of Malvern, Iowa; Charles Wayne Digger ODell of Lebanon, Tennessee; Loren Digger ODell of Brookfield, Missouri you get the picture. Junior will be glad to pitch in. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Well, both my parents were buried like Irish Catholics were buried, so there was this sort of tribal and religious language that had been developed over centuries for how we do this. Chester A. Riley: I don't think you heard me, peg. Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" I've seen it happen to Sean [his son], where you're swinging the door at night, helping people with their coats, directing them one place or another, carrying flowers, doing all the innocuous little things that add up to taking care of a family during visitation. Everything seems to fall into place. So yes, the hurt is there, but the hurt does not overwhelm. Punchy: Hey, why don't you get up, pal? So we learn to live with it. Well, to find the answer to that question, you need to read the full story here. And does the rise in cremation in America parallel changes in demographics? For many people I know, when families are cremated, they feel as if they've in some sense kind of disappeared. I cant say what finally happened to Digger. I just read this card, and I just spoke to the Justice of the Peace! He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. Chester A. Riley: [on the phone] What is it, a boy or a girl? Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down.". Patricia Hall was listed as a cast member in a Hollywood Reporter news item, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. If I'm an Italian Catholic or an Orthodox Jew or a Baptist African American, I don't have to wonder what's going to happen, because I know that my community of co-religionists, of ethnic fellows, my neighborhood, whatever, they've organized a plan so that I don't have to spend the first several hours or days or weeks trying to figure out what to do next because it's already been told by tradition, by custom, by culture, by form. The auto dealers did their part by displaying a huge banner that asked of anyone driving by, HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?. We are now without a mother or without a father. But there's no question that cremation has become normative in a way that it used to be exceptional. Riley, Riley, what a guy! There's this wonderful essay that was written -- I have it framed in the hallway there; the woman's name, I think, is Sullivan who wrote it. Buried alive? Dwarf Mr Snow, Fred's Tie Dye, Saucy Mary, Sweet Scarlet, Kangaroo Paw Green, Idaho Gem and Banana Toes are just a few of the varieties one gardener is growing in a 4x8 bed of "bulletproof" tomatoes. What can you tell me about this interesting fellow? What is missing is the corpse: the thing itself, not the idea of the thing. Chester A. Riley: None of that radical talk out of you just 'cause you go to high school! They'll survive it. And yet someone's weeping because of the changed life that we're seeing before us. I do not care but that they do it honorably. Jiffy peat pellets are a popular choice for starting tomatoes, but they can also be used for peppers. to "how come? 16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217 episodes. They can coexist. I admire entrepreneurs and performers as much as the next guy, but it was surely a miserable way to make a living. And particularly when you see the transaction which involves this rather impressive life-or-death event with the rather mundane mercantility of it all. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. When Monahan and his new wife Lucy arrive for dinner, Riley is envious of his former rival's obvious wealth and tries to hide his own financial shortcomings. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 8, 1950 with William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Meg Randall . Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. I cant find any record that Digger ever returned to Bluff City Buick, or to the Bluff City for that matter, to finish the job. Back in Atlanta, a judge allowed him to conduct his stunt for an Atlanta shopping center, but he had to turn the money he would be paid only $2,250 over to his family. When the publicity manager urged him to change into a dark suit (so it would be more funeral-like) Digger refused: Ive got to have my robe. When the promoter begged him to change clothes once he was below ground, Digger explained the situation: No room. I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. He would have figured that out, but I think for him the funeral, the procession, was part of the process. Life of Riley won the first Emmy Award (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television") with Groucho Marx receiving a credit for the story. He never acted this way before. It gives me room to do either, all along this sort of emotional register. Everything is going on, and here we are. Dunning, John On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio The Internet Movie Database We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. However, it came to an end after 26 episodes because Irving Brecher and sponsor Pabst Brewing Company reached an impasse on extending the series for a full 39-week season. Humans figured out both before they had backhoes and retorts. The stores are open. I think of disbelief as a faith of its own kind. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . Question #48486. It is that everything changes and nothing changes. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four. Jim Gillis: I know a lot about surgery. Even a criminal gets time off for good behavior. We're celebrating love, huh? Will you care after your death if they take care of you in death as you did your dad? Don't you worry about him; we'll pull him through. Brecher then saw William Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in Hal Roach's The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). He made the news by being buried alive. I thought, this guy could play it. It was a sudden inspiration brought on by ownership of a tuxedo T-shirt! The till still rings. He calculated that he had been "buried alive" 94 times, and some of these almost ended his life. A comic book adaptation of the show was produced by Dell Comics in 1958 as part of their Four Color series of one-shots. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. [in a flashback sequence, Peg has just given birth to her first child]. Despite Gillis' accusations and Peg's doubts, Riley goes along with the wedding plan until Junior uses the Stevensons' intercom to eavesdrop on Burt's room. Chester A. Riley: I don't have to be fair - I'm your father. It seemed like an appropriate time for this sainted woman. "The Life of Riley Quotes." The stock market is open. Her testimony is like all testimony -- it is a combination of gratitude and grief, and that the gratitude does not trump the grief, nor does the grief undo the gratitude. And I suppose this is the message at every graveside: They stay, we go, until we come to that point in which we are brought there, and we stay and they go. Western movie question: Movie likely from the 70s, has the climax where a man/boy is racing through the desert to beat a shadow across a certain line to save a girl captured by Indians. This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. Chester A. Riley: Okay, maybe he ain't no Gregory Peck, but my boy's got it up here [points to head] . And there's somebody else digging the hole in the ground. The company offers Elephant Gigantes seeds, as well as free seeds that come with recommended shelf life information included. Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Richard Long, Meg Randall and John Brown reprised their screen roles for an May 8, 1950 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. What are you doin' here in the park? Yeah, it's a mystery. In doing this, in accompanying the dead, getting them where they need to go, we get where we need to be. Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, He didnt come close to breaking his record. None of us knew what reference was being made here.In grade five very few people here NL (Canada) were familiar with American radio.When the "Life Of Reilly" came to TV my appreciation of "Digger" was finally launched. I have often noticed the difference between the first day that a family will spend here and the next day. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). On any given day, it's up for grabs. The boss' son (Long), who is in love with Babs, suggests that they get married in order to save Riley's job. And that's unfortunate. Oh, yeah. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: It's just not fair! Later, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff. At the beginning of the November 11, 1949 radio episode the announcer explained that William Bendix had strained his voice while performing the role of an umpire for an upcoming film (Kill the Umpire) and Gleason substituted for him that one night. I think it's always been the case that funerals in general, and funeral directors in particular, provide an easy target for cartooning, because there is so much about what we do that can be held up for ridicule. How different is confronting death without faith? John Brown, Radio and TV Actor, Dies; Played Digger O'Dell in 'Life of Riley' Give this article May 18, 1957 The New York Times Archives See the article in its original context from May 18, 1957,. Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. It has to do with the gift of language. I remember it hitting me there in the house: She actually died; we actually buried her today; she's actually not coming back here; she's actually gone. All rights reserved. He then is embarrassed in front of the Monahans when Junior appears with his full piggy bank, having been unable to open it, and during a struggle with the waiter, the bank falls to the ground and breaks. Just as all appears lost, Riley learns from Burt that he has been promoted to a high-paying executive position. [citation needed], The series was co-developed by the nonperforming Marx Brother turned agent Gummo. . Quotes.net. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell , "the friendly undertaker." Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. It's that time of year again when gardeners all over the world are planning what to grow in their gardens. Peg Riley: Oh? You were just married! Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts It was just doing the next right thing. Jeff and Babs's bliss is soon dampened when Miss Bogle reveals that she must sell the Rileys' house because of her own financial problems. I'm not the type of friends who buts in. Down your throat it goes. And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. It seems "Digger O'Dell" was a "friendly undertaker" character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesn't explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. And we come away from these memorial events, these celebrations of life, with the increasing sense that something is missing. We already ordered the baby announcements. John Brown returned as the morbid, counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell. It was during this period that Gleason played Riley on one episode of the radio series. Gillis: Don't argue, because I hate family arguments. I've really come to the point where I can see in a fire all that release; I can see the Holy Spirit in it, you know. Still, as every grieving person knows, we have to reinvent the wheel in which we are now orphaned. The program even utilized a stable of so-called "silent" characters, individuals referred to often but never actually heard. And oftentimes I'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the prearrangement conference. Simon Vanderhopper: Mr. Riley, you're not angry? Maybe bigger. This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. Chester A. Riley: You know, Peg, I don't know what kind of wife she's gonna mae, but 40 years from now, somebody's gonna have a terrific mother-in-law. And then one year it disappeared, and I fretted that someone had stolen it for scrap metal. That's why I came over here tonight. He's a man who's understood In Brooklyn or in Hollywood. Mrs. Abigail Uppington, the wimpy Wallace Wimple and the "friendly undertaker," Digger O'Dell. Jackie Gleason starred as Riley during the show's first year, while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the series. "The Life of Riley Quotes." Once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt sides turned to mud and caved in after a thunderstorm. [after Riley discovers the man he accused of bank robbery is a policeman]. And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. I've seen at the end of the day people walking upright away from graves, people walking upright away from fires, as if they were going to survive it. What a revolting development this is! After roaming around the park a bit, I found the plaque has been carefully preserved and moved to a better (and more visible) location, bolted to a wall towards the rear of the new Veterans Plaza area of Overton Park. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. Digger kept up his strange act for many years. Comedy Romance A factory worker's family is thrown into an uproar when his teenage daughter starts to date his boss' son. I've come to admire the earth, the wind and the fire. We saw people start organizing these commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy. It is the ridiculous and the sublime. WGBH educational foundation, How we've become estranged from death and the dead, The meaning and power of rituals and customs, The often-mocked tradition of an open casket, How the baby boomers will change the conversation about funerals. Details Select delivery location Used: Like New | Details Sold by ral Add to Cart New & Used (2) from FREE Shipping Have one to sell? 461. After Riley overhears Burt discussing "business" with Norman, he beats up Norman and drags him before the wedding crowd. 460 Tennessee Street #200, Memphis, TN 38103. Another gardener is pla, Growing Peppers in Your Garden: Tips, Hardening Off and Soil Mix, Growing peppers is a great way to spice up your garden. Whether someone comes into the funeral home insisting on the least expensive or the most expensive, I see in both cases an effort to assign value to cost, and I just think in my own experience it's never had much to do with it. Chester A. Riley: I'm just as much a show-off as they are, ain't I? And when we talk about "the procession," what is the meaning of that? The show was canceled after its first season, but was revived in 1953, then ran on the NBC network until August 1958. Though he's built like Boulder Dam He's tender as a lamb. Jim Gillis: Sure! At the end of that column, in my lackadaisical way weary from all that writing and typing I said I didn't know what happened to Digger after his misadventures in Memphis. He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg; Tom D'Andrea as schemer buddy Jim Gillis; Gloria Blondell (sister of Joan Blondell) as Gillis' wife, Honeybee, and Gregory Marshall as their son Egbert; Lugene Sanders was Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior. Jim Gillis: Of course it's right. He jumps across the line just as a girl, who is covered by a blanket, is being shot by an arrow and plunges off a cliff. 1949. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Blade's Log of Radio and Television Programs (9:00 p.m.)", Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Life_of_Riley&oldid=1135022718, This page was last edited on 22 January 2023, at 03:47. 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